Rebel officials reported on Saturday that at least 200 people died earlier this week when a landslip destroyed multiple mines at a major coltan mining facility in eastern Congo. Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, the spokesperson for the rebel-appointed governor of North-Kivu province, told the Associated Press that the collapse happened on Wednesday at the Rubaya mines, which are controlled by the M23 rebels. He added that the severe rains triggered the landslip.
Right now, there are more than 200 dead, and some of them are still in the mud and haven’t been found yet,” Muyisa said. He went on to say that a number of other people were hurt and evacuated to three health institutions in the town of Rubaya. On Saturday, ambulances were due to carry the injured to Goma, the nearest city, which is some 50 kilometres (30 miles) away. Muyisa added that the rebel-appointed governor of North Kivu has temporarily stopped artisanal mining on the site and told those who had built shelters around the mine to move.
Rubaya is in the middle of eastern Congo, a mineral-rich area of the Central African country that has been torn apart by violence from government forces and various armed groups for decades. The M23, which is backed by Rwanda, has recently gained strength, making the conflict worse and worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis.
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